The Runner: Volume 7, Issue 19 by The Runner

Still not a pipe since 2009 VOLUME-07-ISSUE-19 / JULY-14-2015

KPU SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH TRANS MOUNTAIN GET OUT THE VOTE

GREEK CRISIS

IS VANCOUVER BORING?

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Table of Contents

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News | KPU president responds to community critiques at public forum 05 The Runner is student-owned and operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778.565.3801

www.runnermag.ca Vol. 07, Issue no. 19 July 14, 2015 ISSN# 1916 8241

Cover Art: Cody Lecoy was born in Richmond, British Columbia in 1989. He is an artist of Okanagan and Esquimalt ancestry. Cody is currently enrolled in the BFA program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. In his work, Lecoy uses Northwest Coast formal design elements and surreal expressionism to create a visceral response that connects us to the environment. www.codylecoy.com

CONTRIBUTORS Renee McMillen, Joseph Keller, Awais Mushtaq, Preet Hundal, Dana Miller, Pifanida, Cody Lecoy, Rosaura Ojeda, Scott McLelland, Keith Harris. The Runner recognises that our work, both in and out of the office, takes place on unceded Coast and Strait Salish territories, specifically the shared traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Sto:lo and Tsawwassen First Nations. Our name is inspired by the hun’qumi’num meaning of Kwantlen, which is tireless hunters or tireless runners. Just as Kwantlen is adaptable and changing so is The Runner.

EDITORIAL DIVISION

FEATURES | CAUT concludes Capilano University violated academic freedom 09 Perhaps you might remember a strange sculpture that was in the Surrey library for a few months. It turns out that this was a reconstruction of a similar sculpture seized and destroyed by Capilano University last May.

CULTURE | Beer lovers unite for Vancouver Craft Beer Festival 13 Walk into any pub in Vancouver, take a look at the taps and you’ll see an array of strange and unique beers most likely brewed somewhere in-province. This is a stark change from just a few years ago when all the average bar was likely to offer were Coors or Heineken.

COLUMNS | Greece rejects austerity in referendum amidst financial crisis 17 After seven years of being in an economic mess, the Greeks have voted in referendum to reject a bailout offer from the European Union. With a turnout of 63 per cent, 61.3 per cent of voting Greeks said “no”, while 38.7 per cent voted “yes.”

Coordinating Editor / Tristan Johnston editor@runnermag.ca

OPINIONS | Bill C-24 degrades what it means to be Canadian 17 Executive Editor / Samantha Thompson deputy@runnermag.ca @sampthompson

In the name of ‘Protecting Canadians,’ the Conservative government has passed bill C-24, a law that essentially states that some Canadians are more Canadian (and thus have greater rights) than others.

Managing Editor / Connor Doyle

Production Manager / Kenny Chui production@runnermag.ca

#BestPhoto

featuring Kwantlen’s finest Art Director / Charis Au

Photo Editor / Amanda Paananen photos@runnermag.ca

Web Editor/ Yaunna Sommersby @yaunnarae

Staﬀ Writer / Kier-Christer Junos @kierjunos

Staﬀ Illustrator / Danielle George

BUSINESS DIVISION Operations Manager / Scott Boux office@runnermag.ca / 778.565.3801

from KPU Design (@kpudesign on Instagram) “Product Design instructor Victor Martinez being interviewed for an exciting new project at The Wilson School of Design! #KPU #RunnerMag #Design #Interview#ProductDesign #WilsonSchool #TransportationDesign #WSD #Filming”

Editorial

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From the editor

Offering scholarships to students is all about perception.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society is the body that governs The Runner and Pulp magazine, two of KPU’s student publications. Every year we get somewhere just shy of $250,000 from the $0.75 you pay per course credit. This money is used to print newspapers, magazines and to pay our staff and contributors. Running a newspaper, even a small one, isn’t cheap. Despite this, in April PIPS was able to create a $100,000 scholarship fund for the students of KPU. After all, this was your money to begin with. The amount of money we make on advertisements is negligible. While PIPS gets a fair chunk of money to use, The Runner isn’t a private newspaper, it’s a non-profit. This means we’re not legally allowed to store too much money in our reserves, nor would it be responsible for us to spend it on frivolous purchases. For a long period during 2013 and 2014, The Runner was operating with only a few staff members. Since staff pay is typically the biggest cash draw, there was a lot of money not being used—it was simply being stored

in a savings account. Printing costs and contributor pay had also been reduced. This was a difficult period for The Runner, where articles were written by a handful of contributors. Gradually, our Runner team has grown in size, and we’re now operating with a strong team of student journalists and artists that work hard to produce a newspaper that provides you with critical news and coverage of the KPU community. We’ve also implemented many changes in our printing and production process, all in an effort to serve you, our readership, better. We figured the best way to use the funds from that period of smaller produc-

tion was to give back to the students in the form of five endowed awards. This is an initial investment that produces an interest every year in the form of the award itself, meaning that the scholarships can be offered in perpetuity. The Wordsmith award goes to creative writing students with a certain GPA and a certain number of credit hours. Two more go to journalism students in the form of the Lorem Ipsum award, and finally the two Tireless Runner awards go to students who work specifically with student publications. These awards are

for $1,000 each. Now, PIPS only receives $250,000 or so per year, give or take a few thousand based on how many students are attending and how many opted-out of the fee. In contrast, Kinder Morgan made $7.7-billion USD in profit in 2014, and they were only able to outdo us by $200,000. I happen to believe that, generally, there is no “good and evil,” only various parties trying to seek an outcome that benefits them the most. When KPU executives say that they aren’t taking a stance on the Kinder Morgan pipeline projects, I think they probably mean what they’re saying. No one with a reasonable amount of education thinks that oil isn’t bad for the environment. I took a political science course with Jay Haaland two years ago, and I still remember what he told the class: “Perception is more important than reality.” It doesn’t matter what our university execs actually think. What really matters Charis Au is how they are perceived.

What’s up this MONTH! with Yaunna Sommersby! July 14 to August 5, 2015 Tuesday, July 14 Slamapalooza Finals 2015 Kwantlen’s Creative Writing Guild is hosting the Slamapalooza Finals. The highest scoring poets from this slam season will be competing and five members will be selected for Kwantlen’s delegation at Canadian Nationals. 7 p.m.-10 p.m., KPU Surrey Campus Conference Centre. Free.

Sunday, July 19

Tuesday, July 28

Berry Festival at Mt. Pleasant Farmer’s Market Horticulture students may be interested in spending time at the Mt. Pleasant Farmer’s Market to learn more about berries. Learn some new recipes, eat some samples, get some storage tips or enter a pie into the BerryPieContest! 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Guelph Park. Free.

Wednesday, July 15 Health Care Assistant Program (HCAP) Information Session Want to learn about what it takes to become a Health Care Assistant? Attend this information session to find out more about this program and what it can offer you as a student. Register online for free today. 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Surrey Campus Cedar Building Room 1015. Free.

Thursday, July 16 Home and Away public artwork The Vancouver Public Library and City of Vancouver Public Art Program are hosting an artist talk with members of Seattlebased Lead Pencil Studio. Artists Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo will be discussing the craft and the inspiration behind their Hastings Park, Home and Away artwork. You can also meet all of the artists involved in this project at the PNE on July 18. 7 p.m., Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, 350 West Georgia Street. Free.

Wednesday, July 22

The Future of BC Agriculture: Free Public Talk Former Chair of BC’s Agricultural Land Commission, Mr. Richard Bullock will be speaking at the Richmond campus. Mr. Bullock will be talking about the future of BC agriculture and what can be done to sustain it. There will also be an audience Q&A period so this would be a great opportunity for Horticulture and Agriculture students. 7 p.m.-9 p.m., KPU Richmond, Melville Centre for Dialogue. Register online.

Friday, July 31

VSO Summer: Pokémon Embrace your inner Pokémon master and join the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for an evening of music. Classic video game music combined with various visuals from Pokémon video games will surely make you nostalgic. 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Orpheum, 601 Smithe Street at Seymour. Tickets: $54.75-$78.75.

Music in the Park Solo acoustic guitarist Alexander Flock will be performing and showcasing his talents at this free family event sponsored by the Kerrisdale Community Centre Society. Enjoy a beautiful night in the park accompanied with a varied musical performance. Flock will be performing original work along with some jazz, standards, Beatles’ arrangements and more. 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Maple Grove Park, 6875 Yew Street. Free.

Sunday, August 2 Stanley Park History 101 Have you ever wondered about the interesting and quirky history behind Vancouver’s Stanley Park? The Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES) is hosting an event for Vancouverites to learn more about their staple summer adventure destination. 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Stanley Park Nature House. Register online. $10 for non-SPES members, $5 for SPES members.

Wednesday, August 5 Bachelor of Psychiatric Nursing (BPN) Information Session If you have a deep interest in psychology and are considering going into Psychiatric Nursing field, this is definitely an information session you do not want to miss. Get questions answered, learn more about the program and find out if it is right for you as a student. 4 p.m.-5 p.m., Langley Campus East Building Room 1540. Free.

Got a tip on an upcoming event? Send us an email at

editor@runnermag.ca

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KSA to launch ‘Get Out the Vote’ campaign

Upcoming campaign will encourage students to get out and vote in federal election.

Joseph Keller Contributor

cover printing, volunteer training and other assorted expenses. Volunteers will also be on campus talking to students in hopes of convincing them to pledge to vote. The KSA’s goal is to encourage voter participation rather than advocating for one party or another. The KSA is confident that this spending falls within the KSA’s mission of “ensuring adequate provision for students’ welfare, activities, political, and social needs.” “The students have charged us to run campaigns on their behalf and to collectively pool their money into helping them make a difference,” says McGowan. The KSA chose perhaps the most interesting Canadian election in recent memory to roll out this new program as the 2015 decision has the potential to be historic. After nearly a decade of Conservative dominance, polls are currently showing a strong possibility of the opposition NDP forming a government for the first time in Canadian history. In fact, this would be this first time in history that neither the Liberal or Conservative party

Student voters could potentially have a huge impact on the upcoming federal election, if we can overcome our historically low turnout rates on election day. That’s why the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) is hoping to drive up voter turnout among KPU students for a potentially historic upcoming 2015 federal election. With this Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign, they aim to increase student engagement in federal politics. The campaign is set to begin with the fall semester and run to the election date, which is tentatively scheduled for October 19. KSA vice president external Alex McGowan is spearheading the GOTV campaign, and he came into office with plans to make a voting campaign such as this one a reality. While campaigns similar to this one have been done at other universities around the country, this will be the first of its kind for Kwantlen. “What I’ve seen is this huge opportunity for students and young people to make a big difference,” says McGowan. “And given that the last election was four years ago, that’s four years of young people who have never voted in a federal election before.” The KSA has opted to budget $25,000 to the campaign which will include on-campus events such as debates, candidate meet-andgreets, viewing parties for the debates and results night and more. This budget will also

(or a coalition of the two) have formed the ruling government. Add to that the fact that the future of controversial security/spying

Rosaura Ojeda

legislation C-51 (supported by the Libs and Cons) hangs in the balance and it becomes clear that the KSA will have no shortage of drama with which to sell this election to KPU students.

“This federal election coming up is definitely going to be a historic election,” says McGowan. “With generational shifts, with the political options that are available and with the trends we’re seeing there’s almost certainly going to be a change in government and I think it’s going to be a really big change.” That’s not to say that the KSA, or any group that seeks to drive up young voter turnout, doesn’t have its work cut out for it. Canada has an abysmal record when it comes to youth voter turnout, with only 39 percent of eligible young voters turning out for the 2011 election. In elections past, this has given the party that can best appeal to senior voter a serious edge. This has lead to the perception of under representation among young voters which can lead to a nasty spiral of voter apathy. However, KPU represents a population of almost 20,000 primarily young people, perhaps not a huge number on the federal level but certainly enough to have a significant effect on local ridings. McGowan says there’s the possibility for change in every single local riding. “Because Kwantlen students are mostly concentrated in the Surrey, Langley, Richmond areas, there’s definitely a big opportunity for Kwantlen students to have a decent impact on the results in their ridings.” GOTV events are set to begin with the fall semester. Check the KSA webpage or upcoming Runner calendars for more information as it comes out.

NEWS BRIEFs Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

KSA execs return from the Council Advisory Committee KSA executives Allison Gonzalez and Manpreet Bassi attended a conference on Vancouver Island for four days to discuss improvements to the current health and dental plan, such as added support for mental health. The conference ran by Gallivan and Associates came at no cost to the executives or the students.

metro vancouver votes “no” on transit plebiscite With a voter turnout of 51.09 per cent, Metro Vancouver voted no to the proposed 0.5 per cent sales tax, with 61.68 per cent of voters saying “no.” In Richmond, 72.39 per cent of voters said no, as did 65.54 per cent of Surrey voters. In Vancouver, 49.19 per cent of Vancouver voters said “yes.” Only the North Shore municipalities of Electoral District A, the Village of Belcarra and Bowen Island voted “yes.” Despite the results, TransLink CEO Doug Allen believes that the proposed upgrades are still possible, and that finding this funding will require a creative use of their budget.

kpirg gets new health and dental plan

KPIRG has joined onto KSA’s current employee health and dental plan, as of a mutual agreement May 15. The agreement will last one year, and KPIRG will be paying the KSA $500 per employee, of which KPIRG has 11. The KSA agrees to pay all premiums associated with the addition of KPIRG members. “It allows staff to be covered by health and dental, just as the KSA staff is. It ensures a healthy and happy workforce, just like any other employment situation,” says Richard Hosein. “Our budget is pretty tight, and we’re looking to get some savings, not only for the society but for our members.” Hosein further states that director Justin Bige of KPIRG suggested that the KSA might be able to help out, and thus pursued it. “KPIRG now officially has a memorandum of understanding with the KSA, that they’re on the same health and dental plan as our staff but they’re paying a premium that both parties agree is fair,” says Allison Gonzalez, KSA president.

Kier-Christer Junos Staff Writer

KPU cuts funding to varsity teams KPU has clipped the Eagles’ wings with the announcement of major cuts to the varsity athletics programs. It’s all aligned with the “strategic direction” for KPU’s Vision 2018 and academic plan. “As our budget shifts to better align with the achievement of the goals of the plan, we have determined we cannot make the substantial investment in staff, coaches and facilities necessary to become competitive in varsity athletics,” said an announcement on the KPU athletics webpage. The university will now revoke their membership with PACWEST, the governing institution for collegiate/institutional athletics in B.C. It’s expected that the Eagles will play a final year of soccer and golf in fall 2015, and possibly a final basketball season in spring 2016. KPU plans to host a forum later so that student athletes and their families have an opportunity to discuss these changes. “Absolutely appalled and heartbroken,” said Chantalle Bracken, KPU Eagles basketballer, in a Facebook status. “We have countless people who bust their asses for this program with shit pay already, but there were ‘plans’ to make this program a booming one. This program has given us countless opportunities thanks to our amazing coaches and we’re having that ripped away from us. We’re not going down without a fight.”

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Surrey Board of Trade Presents: Top 25 Under 25 Kwantlen boasts three students/graduates amongst the honourees.

Renée McMillen Contributor

Each year the Surrey Board of Trade recognizes 25 Surrey residents under the age of 25 who have displayed remarkable initiative and leadership through their businesses or communities. This year’s award reception was held on May 28 at the Eaglequest Golf Course, and among those youth celebrated were three of Kwantlen’s own—Keri Van Gerven, Calvin Tiu and Rick Kumar. Shortly after graduating, Keri Van Gerven was offered an internship in the President of Kwantlen’s office, something she considers, perhaps, her greatest achievement of yet. “I am proud [to be] part of the team in the President’s office,” she says. “I work with a group of committed, engaged and knowledgeable individuals who are all dedicated to improving the experience of students at KPU.” In her spare time, Van Gerven also volunteers as the Borderfest Queen through the Viking Lodge, an opportunity that enabled her to spend time with her grandmother and to learn more about her Norwegian background. She emphasizes that it was not “one major accomplishment, but a stream of successes” that led her to be declared one of the Surrey’s “Top 25 Under 25.” While she

has her own skill and dedication to thank, Van Gerven attributes much of her success to her parents for their continuous support and encouragement in her pursuit of higher education. The remaining two honourees, Calvin “Kalvonix” Tiu and Rick “Big Love” Kumar, created an album together last year entitled The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, and toured a number of high schools rapping their work and lecturing students. Their music even led them to take the stage at the Word Vancouver festival in the fall of 2014. This success was due, in part, to the ongoing support from two Kwantlen English professors, Sue Ann Cairns and Greg Chan, as well as a sponsorship from Coca-Cola. Tiu is an arts major who has made it his business to creatively incorporate music into as many aspects of life as he can. An experienced rapper with dozens of albums released since he began recording in high school, Tiu claims that Kwantlen has provided him with the “platforms needed” to exercise his passion and creativity. These platforms range from performances in place of essay assignments to rapping his responses to in-class questions. The young rapper also manages a bursary designated for students who are not only in need of financial aid but also have a GPA lower than 3.0. “Through experience we believe that students with a lower GPA are

often overlooked,” he says, “and we want to show them that they not only belong, but can also find success inside and outside the academic world.” In addition to working alongside his rap partner, Kumar contributes to a number of other initiatives including raising awareness for a suicide prevention program. He became passionate about this cause when he himself felt the sting of loss from suicide while working as a teacher’s assistant. Speaking of his work with the program Kumar says, “mental health issues aren’t preventable, but suicide is.” Kumar believes he was chosen to appear with the other 24 honourees because the Surrey Board of Trade “see someone that will one day make the world a better place, and in truth I see that too.” While he attributes his awards to his time and dedication, Kumar believes his success would not have been possible without his mother, saying “the awards may come in my name, but they’re always for her.” An advocate for change and community-building, Kumar wanted to share a final thought to inspire others to commit themselves, much in the same way he has: “One of the reasons I’ve been so successful in my life is because I didn’t let people’s perceptions of me change me. I used how they viewed me as a benchmark, and I aimed

higher. I learned that how I viewed myself was the only view that mattered.”

The Surrey Bard of Trade

KPU president responds to community critiques at public forum

Majority of students, faculty see Trans Mountain agreement as an unwelcome endorsement.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

At a public forum on July 6, KPU president Alan Davis stood in front of professors, students and activists to explain the reasoning behind signing a memorandum of understanding with Trans Mountain, which would grant KPU a $300,000 scholarship contingent on federal approval for Kinder Morgan’s pipeline. Joining the panel of speakers, along with Alan Davis, was KSA president Allison Gonzalez, KPIRG chairperson Richard Hosein, Justine Nelson from PIPE UP Network, and Justin Bige, who spoke on behalf of Kwantlen First Nation. All representatives from the student groups gave negative remarks about the plans for the scholarship, while Alan Davis

continued to defend his position, explaining that, “We need many more tradespeople in this province, and it will encourage students in high school, for instance, to transfer into KPU through the AIESEC program.” The main arguments from the student groups focused on the environmental damage that the pipeline could cause. Others suggested that regardless of what Davis or the administration says, the signing of the agreement looks like an endorsement, or that Trans Mountain is trying to “buy support.” It seemed evident that much of the crowd was against the agreement. During question period, a man approached the mic and claimed that many universities had successfully divested from fossil fuels. He was almost immediately interrupted by applause from the crowd. There was also some heckling, with one woman from the back of the room interrupting Davis on occasion.

There were more than enough people lining up for the microphone during question period, and even though they were allotted one minute each, the majority went over the time limit. At least one speaker wasn’t completely upset with the administration. “You know what? Heavy industry pays the bills, people,” claimed Norm Chamberlain from KPU Tech. “Who’s going to pay for the social programs we have if it isn’t heavy industry? Now, I’m not saying I’m 100 per cent in favour of this pipeline, but I do applaud Alan for bringing this opportunity to KPU.” “I see a different story, for what we did in respect to the [memorandum of understanding],” said Davis in response to his critics. “I think the MOU was undertaken in good faith, for the right reasons.” “There’s a huge gap in the support for students to achieve the programming, and

Tristan Johnston

the education that they want. It’s our job to try and find the resources. I’m sorry if there’s offense taken at taking money from particular causes. There’s no legal or policy or governance issue about doing that, and it would be a political statement on my part to decline it, and not one for me to make. I don’t have academic freedom, and KPU should not be seen as a political agent itself. It’s here and it’s mandated to serve the students.” Davis further mentioned that if the administration concerned itself with the moral goodness of every company they accepted money from, there would be much less of it at KPU. “It’s a fact of life that we have to engage with industry in receipt of money to support our endeavour. It would be great if we were 100 per cent funded, and we were tuition-free and we didn’t need to ask anybody for a penny.” Kayla England, queer students representative for the KSA and a policy student, asked, “How would this MOU affect what is taught in those specific courses?” to which Davis replied, “No impact whatsoever. Faculty drives curriculum.” Davis also said that he will be talking to Lekeyten, KPU’s elder-in-residence, in the coming weeks. The event ended on time, though there were still a few people at the microphone, ready to ask a question. “I will take away what I’ve heard today and discuss it further,” said Davis. “I’m not going to break an MOU that I’ve signed. I signed the MOU in good faith, [and] I’m not going to go back and change that. I will do everything I can to address the concerns I heard today, and reflect on that.”

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Politics “ruin” inner reflection

“Om” Burrard Bridge yoga event cancelled amidst controversy.

Renée McMillen Contributor

If yoga is an interest of yours, chances are you’ve heard about Vancouver’s planned “Om the Bridge” event, which was supposed to take place June 21 on the Burrard bridge. It was cancelled after generating an intense public backlash due to costs, location and timing. Premier Christy Clark, who was playing host to the event, pulled out from

participating once it turned political. According to The Vancouver Sun, Clark said, “Unfortunately, the focus of the proposed Burrard Street Bridge event has drifted towards politics, getting in the way of the spirit of the community and inner reflection. It was for this reason I decided not to participate.” Clark was not alone in her decision, either. Sponsors Lululemon, YYoga and Altagas pulled out as well following the public criticism of the event. Lululemon spokesperson, Jill Batie, responded to the

public reaction by saying, “We’ve read your posts and the media reports, and heard the disappointment in the voices of the community frustrated by the location, cost and date. We had the best intentions. And so we’re taking a deep cleansing breath and over the next several days, we’ll be reimagining a celebration that honours the spirit and tradition of yoga and serves our communities in a more meaningful way.” The cost of the event, which most estimates put at around $150,000, as well as the need to close the bridge in order to facilitate the yoga enthusiasts, sparked a remarkable amount of public backlash. In addition, although the event date was chosen because June 21 is International Yoga Day, it also collided with National Aboriginal Day, a day meant to celebrate the unique heritage and diverse culture of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. According to The Vancouver Sun, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, head of the Union of B.C. Chiefs, had expressed his concerns with Clark’s decision to promote International Yoga Day over national Aboriginal Day because of a report recently released by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The report calls on Canadians to change their relationship with First Nations people. “It was blatant political opportunism,” Phillip said of the event.

Although Clark claimed she did not want to mix politics and yoga, many saw her as doing just that. Her reaction on social media just days after pulling out from the event was yet another display of disrespect for the overall message of either day. She tweeted, “Hey yoga haters – bet you can’t wait for international Tai Chi day.” The tweet was at first seen as a parody of potential hack, but without any following retraction or response, the public responded critically. Some followers on Twitter even requested an apology for her disrespect and immaturity. Before the event was cancelled, a public Facebook page named, “Decolonize Burrard Bridge on National Aboriginal Day,” was established with the intention of organizing a public protest. According to Vancity Buzz, the creators of the page created it when they heard of “the embarrassing, expensive, and deeply out of touch yogathon that was set to take place on National Aboriginal Day.” In contrast to Clark, the sponsors of the event seemed to handle the aftermath a bit more diplomatically. YYoga founder, Terry McBride, made a statement claiming, “We hoped that our intentions would shine through but that was not the case.” He went on to say that the company intends to hold an event in a park that better reflected “the tradition of yoga and the community.”

Keith Harris

Vancouver passes cannabis dispensary regulations, draws ire from feds Becomes the first city in Canada to regulate dispensaries.

Joseph Keller Contributor

With a unanimous vote by Vancouver City Council, the city will become the first in Canada to regulate dispensaries selling cannabis for medical purposes. The decision will see the city issuing business licenses to sellers that meet the city’s requirements. Vancouver is already host to nearly 100 such dispensaries operating in legal limbo as city police have not prioritized any effort to have them shut down. City officials hope that these new regulations will temper the ‘wild west’ culture that has grown around the previously unregulated business. This new municipal policy stands in stark contrast and conflict with federal law that would see these stores shut down and medical cannabis distribution controlled exclusively through Health Canada’s very limited mail delivery program. At the centre of the city council’s decision is Councillor Kerry Jang who led the council on this issue. “The Supreme Court, on a least two occasions now, has said people have a right to medical marijuana,” Jang says. “So we’ve decided to take a public health approach.” While these regulations go a long way toward legitimizing the medical cannabis industry on a municipal level, they will also see many dispensaries closed down for falling outside of regulatory parametres. Dispensaries operating within 300 metres of schools, community centres or other

cannabis dispensaries will be forced to move or close. Remaining stores will have to purchase a business license from the city priced at $30,000, significantly higher than the cost for any other type of business. Jang says that the higher fee is due to higher costs to the city associated with these businesses. “We expect that it’ll cost us $1.4-million to implement the new rules and implement proper inspections,” he explains. “We’re treating [dispensaries] like we would any other business in the city,” says Jang. “In putting these bylaws in, we’re adding structure where there was no structure before.” Dana Larsen, leader of cannabis activist group Sensible BC, owns two dispensaries in Vancouver and sees the new bylaws as a step forward towards cannabis policy reform. However, he also notes the stipulations that will result in some stores closing as unfair. “Overall, I like the process,” says Larsen. “I’m glad Vancouver is doing this, but there’s quite a few specific details that are very concerning and problematic.” Under the new bylaw, one of Larsen’s two dispensaries may be forced to close. He says Sensible BC will not argue with any of the regulations at this time. The decision to regulate, rather than prosecute, the semi-legal Vancouver medical cannabis industry has drawn outrage in Ottawa from the prohibitionist Conservative federal government. While the government does have a Supreme Courtmandated medical cannabis program,

access is kept severely limited. Health Minister Rona Ambrose condemned the decision in a statement. Ambrose also sent letters to the city councillors reminding them that cannabis is illegal and claiming that legitimizing dispensaries will lead to increased use by young people. Supporters of the bylaw have been quick to dismiss the Health Minister’s opinion. “[Ambrose] is simply out of touch,” says Jang. “She’s disappointed in Vancouver? We’re disappointed in this minister for ignoring the facts and the Canadian people.” “No dispensary in town is marketing to kids,” says Larsen. There were several reasons for the city’s decision to ignore the fed’s marching orders to shut down all cannabis dispensaries. Councillor Jang explained that a city-wide crackdown would be impractical due to

disinterest in enforcing unpopular policy among VPD brass, as well as potential backlash from Vancouverites. “It’s up to the Vancouver Police Department to decide where the priorities are,” says Jang. “[A crackdown] would be very costly, very politically damaging and ultimately I don’t think it would help anyone’s political goals,” says Larsen. While Vancouver is the first city to pass regulation bylaws for dispensaries, it’s far from the only city in Canada to allow the stores to operate. Public opinion in recent years has shifted against prohibition with a 2012 poll showing 66 per cent support legislation in Canada. Both the Liberal party and NDP have promised more liberalized cannabis policy if elected in the upcoming election.

Tristan Johnston

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Taking a Bite of the Big Apple

Four steps to making the most of your summer vacation destination.

Yaunna Sommersby

Features

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CAUT concludes Capilano University violated academic freedom

George Rammell

Remember that weird artwork in the library a few months ago?

art. George Rammell did the same, in the form of Blathering on in Krisendom. Coordinating Editor “At a glance, you can pick up what I’m saying. In the new piece, I resculpted it last Perhaps you remember a strange sculp- summer, because I took the broken heaps ture that was in the Surrey library for a few they gave back to me,” says Rammell. months. It depicted a person wearing a cap “That was meant to send me a message, and holding a poodle, draped in an Ameri- that if I criticized the president, my voice can flag. The work, titled Margaux & the will be squashed. It was extremely draconian.” Monarch, is a satirical piece depicting curRammell mentioned that his faculty has rent Capilano University president Kris Bul- a wrongful dismissal suit in the works. croft, created by former Capilano University Rammell agrees that the destruction of fine art professor George Rammell. his work could have created a “Streisand It turns out that this was a reconstruction Effect,” which is the idea that attempting to of a similar sculpture seized and destroyed censor something draws more attention to by Capilano University last May. something than simply leaving it alone. The Canadian Association of University “If they had just ignored it, or if she had Teachers (CAUT) relaughed at it, the way leased a report in June, “That was meant to send me a mes- Trudeau might laugh at reaching the conclusion sage, that if I criticized the presi- political cartoons over that George Rammell’s his morning coffee, dent, my voice will be squashed. It it probably wouldn’t academic freedom was was extremely draconian.” violated. have had much imIn the spring of pact. The fact that they 2013, the university announced plans to cut tried to hide it by destroying it and shutting funding to several programs, namely adult me up, that’s what put it on the front page basic education, textiles and studio art. It all over the country. That encouraged the was around this time that Capilano students [CAUT] to take up the case.” and faculty protested the cuts on campus by “It wasn’t just George who was a subdemonstrating and creating and destroying ject of a crackdown on political protest at

Tristan Johnston

Rammell was never approached by police. the university. A lot of students who were Robinson isn’t sure if the seizure of the protesting the cuts had their banners taken down and destroyed,” says David Robin- artwork was legal or illegal, but likely fell son, executive director at CAUT. “There under the internal policies of the university. “Had Rammell been a professor of Engwas a real culture of intimidation going on lish and wrote an essay in within the university as the report found “What the administration did was protest, and the university out. I think the uniso egregiously repulsive, that of- sent staff into his office to rip it up or delete it from versity’s actions fended all sensibilities of academic his hard drive, we would were so over the top, freedom,” be similarly outraged.” their justification so Jane Shackell, a former weak, that in the end, board member of Capilano University who it came back to haunt them.” “In the end, they even refused to recog- ordered the seizure of his artwork, declined an interview request. nize that they had made a mistake.” Kris Bulcroft didn’t reply to an email reRobinson explained that academic freedom gives professors freedom to criticize quest, however, a Capilano University communications advisor sent The Runner a prethe university without fear of getting fired. “Are there any limits to academic free- pared statement. According to the letter, the dom? Absolutely. Academic freedom university settled the matter last year, and doesn’t give you the right to manufacture considers the matter “closed.” “Very seldom do I come across somedata and say, ‘Well that’s my academic freedom, I can do whatever I want.’ You have thing so black and white,” says Robinson. to adhere to certain academic standards. If “What the administration did was so egreI’m a professor of biology, I can’t walk into a giously repulsive, that offended all sensiclassroom [and start teaching creationism].” bilities of academic freedom, it was so clear. Robinson further explains that profes- Many other cases that we deal with, there sors cannot use their academic freedom to are shades of grey that we have to wade discriminate against people on protected through, but this was a clear black and white grounds or harass anyone as defined by the law. case.”

George Rammell

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Oiling up the education machine

What else is behind Kinder Morgan’s $300,000 memorandum with KPU? The Public Forum

Kier-Christer Junos Staff Writer

At the end of June, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Trans Mountain (under Kinder Morgan) signed a memorandum of understanding that would see KPU in receipt of $300,000. Despite criticisms of bribery, according to Lizette Parsons Bell, stakeholder management lead for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, the goal of the funding is “to leave a positive legacy” in pipeline communities like Langley. Surely, it could be that innocuous. Post-secondary institution funding in the province is a little slim, after all. Last year, former KPU vice president of finance Gordon Lee told The Runner that KPU was at a deficit. Some critical programs had their IVs cut. When considering the disparity of full-time equivalent seats at KPU compared to other post-secondary institutions, a little money wouldn’t hurt. But it’s obviously not that simple. When the story broke, people were incredulous, astounded that the university would go ahead on the June 23 agreement, especially without any consultation. Anti-pipeline group PIPE UP organized a meeting the day after the deal signing, a first effort to organize those against the memorandum and brainstorm any action they could take against the university.

“I was frustrated, as an alumni with my degree coming from Kwantlen,” says Justine Nelson, of PIPE UP. “I was disappointed that my school would take money from Trans Mountain.” Out of the meeting, the group decided to hold a forum on July 6. There, a panel of critics formally blasted the agreement, and KPU president Alan Davis was prompted to respond. The Surrey conference centre was packed to the doors with people. By question period, where the askers stepped up to a mic, a majority of those present--KPU students, alumni, faculty and community members--seemed vehemently opposed to the decision. And Davis, despite the earful he got, remains steadfast in that the agreement with Kinder Morgan would remain signed. “Instead of venting steam at a public meeting we need it to drive the piston of opposition,” says Bill Burgess, of KPU’s geography department. “For example, we should have called for a straw vote at the end of the meeting so it could register its opinion that the MOU is contrary to the interest of KPU, that we repudiate it and that we urge other KPU bodies to do the same.” He’s calling for the creation of a coalition amongst KPU groups to stand in opposition to the MOU, building on the work that has already begun with KPIRG, the KSA and Kwantlen First Nation. The memorandum of understanding will result in $300,000 of scholarship money to KPU, over 20 years, if the pipeline is approved. It also gives Kinder Morgan naming rights to the environmental protection research lab for 10 years, on KPU’s Langley campus. The critics are still trying to find a way to, in their best case scenario, nullify the memorandum. Currently a petition is making the rounds and has already reached over 200 signatures. “KPU should have consulted with students and the community before entering into this agreement,” said KSA president

Allison Gonzalez in a press release. KPU is one of Canada’s greenest employers. They’ve managed to reduce carbon emissions year after year. It’s seen in efforts like the energy monitoring systems of the Langley campus greenhouses or boiler room upgrades to reduce natural gas use. They have an entire committee devoted to environmental sustainability, and clean technology is a tenant of their applied research. So why doesn’t this philosophy extend to this decision to partner with a controversial oil company? “For us to have a position on the pipeline would be hypocritical if we didn’t have a position on many, many other things that we are all involved in, and I’m talking about this entire community,” says Salvador Ferreras, KPU’s vice-president academic. KPU philosophy department professor Colin Ruloff had a question at the July 6 forum, which he didn’t complete. But at the request of KSA staffer Kari Michaels, it was published in the Facebook group organizing against the agreement. After a preamble about the wrong direction on energy resources, he wrote, “I fully understand that KPU is legally entitled to accept funds from any entity it wishes; but why, I ask, would KPU at all desire to form partnerships with carbon-intensive entities such as KM, let alone accept funds from such entities? This, it seems, is intellectually irresponsible and makes the university look very bad – retrograde, in fact.” The practice of industry-university partnerships isn’t novel. Possibly even older than such partnerships are instances when universities were bent over by the stick of religious authorities or conventional, social thought.

Cody Lecoy

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Maintaining Academic Integrity

Not Enough Time Many people expressed their desire that KPU had consulted with them before inking the deal with Trans Mountain. Because so many donors offer the school money and only a smaller proportion of those offers follow through, Ferreras says it’s unrealistic to hold pre-emptive forums at such a frequency. In this case he says the time wasn’t there. “If it was a matter of unbelievable dissonance with our values or our—I can’t think of a good example right now; some sort of ridiculous example that we would know the entire community would be opposed—well we wouldn’t even talk about the MOU in the first place.” “It could’ve been a special circumstance, which is why it was suggested,” says Ferreras. “You have to also understand the context of what was happening at the time for me to suggest trying to put together a forum, and the timing that we had before this announcement. I can’t tell you the number of board meetings, senate meetings, some very major major things… The time just wasn’t there.” Even if this was defined as a special circumstance that warranted a forum that ended up happening, he doesn’t know that, “The decision would have been any different.” In the end, Ferreras says this one isn’t a circumstance where KPU felt compelled to have a forum before making a decision. The Kwantlen First Nation, for one, are shaking their heads at this entire agreement. Their opposition to pipeline expansion is well-known. Perhaps it seems intuitive that a university with the KFN as their namesake might operate more-than-parallel with the First Nations band. Ferreras says they indeed “live in parallel” with KFN, that KPU welcomes them and their input into activities that would benefit aboriginal student participation. But, according to Ferreras, there’s no obligation to hash things out at all with KFN when it comes to things like this agreement with Trans Mountain. “There’s no question that we’re committed to working with the Kwantlen First Nation and all our neighbouring nations,” says Ferreras. “But just because it’s part of our name, we don’t actually go out and sort of add a level of governance oversight with them in order to conduct our business. That would be unusual.” “My grandfather Grand-Chief Joe Gabriel allowed the university to use our Nation’s namesake over 32 years ago,” said Brandon Gabriel of KFN, in a statement. “It is an honour bestowed on the university that has never been forgotten by the Kwantlen Nation.” Up to 12 letters of support for the Trans Mountain pipeline have been signed by First Nations bands, according to an aboriginal consultation update from Trans Mountain. KFN was among those who didn’t sign. Surprise, followed by roadside protest, was the KFN community’s response to Kinder Morgan began geotechnical testing in Langley in February. The Township of Langley says it has concerns with Kinder Morgan’s intentions, according to their website. “There have been many great working re-

The difficulties a university faces in attempting to maintain academic integrity because of external pressures are amongst the qualms of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, who in a 2013 report on industry-university partnerships explained how often post-secondary institutions violate the principles of academia. They made an example of 12 agreements on research collaborations—of which some were couplings with oil projects—and of those 12, only two were public documents, meaning no consultation with academic staff or students occurred. A lack of consultation is a similar complaint being voiced by those against the MOU between KPU and Kinder Morgan. CAUT’s philosophy for the need of public, academic consultation is that when government or industry try to lead scientific inquiry, “Scientific horizons shrink.” CAUT suggests that industry often has the need to cut costs for research—so a university is “employed”—and that short-term government agendas aim to please industry without a decent grasp of the proper way to forward knowledge. Combine that with the university senior administration’s awareness of their institution’s own underfunding and that oil pie recipe starts to look really good. And so does every other recipe that industry chefs can pipe up.

Tristan Johnston

lationships between the school’s past presidents, chancellors, provosts and administrators in the past,” added Gabriel. “I don’t know what to say about the current sitting president and his senior administration, I find these folks to be quite tokenistic, shortsighted, disingenuous and lacking any authentic desire to work with the KFN or any First Nations groups in a good way.” Another part of the memorandum receiving criticism explains Trans Mountain’s “education recognition program.” Besides stating a required “announcement event” and national press release, the memorandum would give Trans Mountain naming rights to Langley campus’s environmental protection research lab for 10 years, and also to: “… engage with program areas as subject matter experts, program advisory committee members where appropriate and both field trip sites and invitations to guest speaking opportunities.” MOU critics, including the BC Government and Service Employees Union, the provincial union for KPU staff, and the KSA interpret this as a disturbing infringement on academic freedom, what’s being called the privatization of post-secondary education. “Absolutely not,” says Ferreras. “Absolutely not.” He says that under the University Act it would be impossible, that the university is “the sovereign owner of the educational delivery.” Instead, Ferreras says it means that Trans Mountain would “engage” by presenting a problem to the institution so the specific faculties could help with that said problem; it’s just the way that any company engages, he adds. A spokesperson from Trans Mountain says that what Ferreras suggests would be, “Something we’d consider, for sure.” “What our perspective on that was, in terms of recognition, is that we would be able to share real industry experience and examples,” they add. “For example, if someone in the trades department, if they were talking about welding in their specific program, it would be perhaps an opportunity for one of our welders from our team to go in and give real industry experience or knowledge.” The idea of partnering with educational institutions, particularly those that have applied studies is, “To really bring that knowledge and experience of people who are actually in the industry to the students,” according to Trans Mountain. But Ferreras says that, “They would never engage directly with the students. That’s a relationship that we own.” No matter their footing in this currently ambiguous but controversial relationship, as far as CAUT and the KPU community are concerned, a situation like this suggests major academic toe-crushing. And as far as president Davis is concerned, he’s a man of his word. This agreement won’t go un-inked. “Dr. Davis can claim he entered the MOU in good faith, and so can’t back off, so he needs to be corrected,” says Burgess. “Over-ruled.”

Culture

Danielle George

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Beer lovers unite for Vancouver Craft Beer Festival Over 100 brewers come together to celebrate Vancity’s booming industry.

Joseph Keller Contributor

Walk into any pub in Vancouver, take a look at the taps and you’ll see an array of strange and unique beers most likely brewed somewhere in-province. This is a stark change from just a few years ago when all the average bar was likely to offer were Coors or Heineken. It’s no doubt that Vancouver has come to love its craft beer, and to celebrate this home-brewing renaissance, hundreds of brewers from Vancouver and beyond came together to put on the city’s sixth annual Craft Beer Festival. Over the blazingly hot June weekend thirsty beer lovers waited in a line that stretched a good way down North Renfrew Street. Once inside, attendees were treated to a selection of over 100 craft brewers, each providing a selection of their finest concoctions. The fairground was crammed from end to end with tents housing brewers eager to showcase this year’s offerings. Side attractions included entertainment courtesy of STIHL Timbersports as well as local DJs and several food trucks. Admission to the festival cost a fairly steep $35 per person, plus fees and taxes, as well as a modest $1.25 each for tokens which

could be exchanged for samples of beer. The admission fee also included a souvenir plastic tasting glass. The yearly festival marks the end of Vancouver Craft Beer Week which featured alcohol-related-events all over the city. Now in its sixth year, the festival, which is the first and largest of its kind in Canada, was held on the PNE fairgrounds for the first time to accommodate the festival’s larger size and growing demand. An event of this magnitude required an extensive workforce of volunteers. Among the hundreds to turn up to make the festival possible was KPU’s own Joseph WatsonMackay who has been involved with the festival for the past four years. He says it’s the sense of community that attracts him to the craft beer industry. “There’s no underlying cone of cutthroat competition,” says Watson-Mackay on the craft brewers that attend the festival “They’re all drinking each other’s beers. They’re all excited to see what the others are doing.” As with past years, 2015’s Craft Beer Festival proved to be a massively popular event, which of course meant everpresent lines and crowds throughout the weekend. Fortunately, event staff were well prepared to meet the demand and the very large selec-

tion of beer tents meant that after the initial hold up, attendees never had to wait long to get to any particular brew. One might expect that an event of this nature would suffer from issues of public drunkenness. After all, as the people of Vancouver are all too aware, large crowds and flowing alcohol can be a recipe for disaster in any city. Fortunately, event organizers were well prepared for this and all volunteers at the event had their Serving It Right certifications. Any obviously inebriated patrons were promptly cut off and the crowd remained engaged yet peaceful. “I was happy to see so many people drinking alcohol, several drinks and some of them quite strong in fact, but so little

disorderly and intoxicated behavior,” says Watson-Mackay. “Everybody had very clear training about what sort of signs to be looking for, for when to cut people off.” With this year’s massive attendance it’s almost a given that there will be a 2016 Craft Beer Festival, and that means that there will be need for another batch of volunteers. It’s an experience that Watson-Mackay highly recommends. “I feel like most of my knowledge [about beer] comes from those one-on-one conversations with people that I meet at these festivals,” say Watson-Mackay. “It’s definitely enlightened me and I’ve tried a lot more beers than I [normally] would have been open to.”

Tristan Johnston

We All Float On, okay?

Vancouver is seeing a resurgence of float centres, and it’s not hard to see why.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

“We were the first commercial float centre in Vancouver in over 20 years,” says Mike Zaremba, co-creator of Float House, a float tank centre with locations in Gastown, Kitsilano, and soon in South Surrey. “There were some back in the day—floating has been through waves in commercial interest. The first one kind of beginning in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, partially kicked off by the cult classic movie Altered States.” “It all just died off in the ‘90s . . . but it’s come back now in the last four years, really strong, really accelerating in the last yearand-a-half,” says Zaremba, who also has an education in physical therapy. “We’re seeing float centres pop up all over the place.” Mike and his brother, Andy Zaremba, opened their first float centre in 2013, starting out with five tanks. With some success it soon expanded to nine tanks, a newer fivetank centre in Kitsilano, and two franchise locations in Victoria—operated by cousin

Tristan Johnston

Erik Zaremba—and soon South Surrey. Zaremba says that they were aggressive with marketing, as they had no idea whether or not their idea would catch on. “We had nothing to compare it to; we just jumped off the cliff. We had investors who put a good chunk of change into us, we weren’t going to be complacent and be like, ‘Let’s see what happens.’ We wanted to be sure that it did work.” “There are several other float locations,” says Zaremba, not counting his. “Within the whole Greater Vancouver area, there’s about nine now.” In 1954, John C. Lily, an American neuropsychologist working at the National Institute of Mental Health, sought to isolate the brain from all external stimuli. The result was ultimately a prototype of current float tanks, the first of which looked very much like a sci-fi horror device where you put on a breathing apparatus and float completely submerged in water. There was a swell in float tank popularity during the late 1960’s, with countercultural figures like Lily, Terrence McKenna and Timothy Leary advocating for them, all of whom were highly educated and extremely interested in psychedelics. Lily hoped to use float tanks to better understand the effects of

LSD, namely by taking it himself and then climbing into a tank. Now float houses are seeing a resurgence in popularity. Though one factor in their newfound fame is surely an increased societal interest in eating healthy, doing yoga and so forth, another would surely be Joe Rogan. Though many know him as a MMA commentator for UFC, he often goes on tangents during his popular podcast, usually to talk about float tanks or psychedelic drugs. The experience of being in a float tank is unlike many other, as once in the tank you are cut off from almost everything. The inside is pitch black and soundproof. You float in skin-temperature water so salinated that you can’t submerge. Just by being alive, your brain becomes adjusted to all of the stimuli you experience. The feeling of this paper in your hands.

The temperature of the room you’re in. The sound of cars outside. The sensation of sitting in a chair. The massive amount of visual information your eyes are processing. It turns out that once you remove all of these things, the only remaining factor is your brain with its thoughts. For this reason, you could describe floating as “meditation on training wheels.” Zaremba would agree. “The biggest factor of meditation in any form is the individual, the state of the individual going into it.” “It does, at the very least, help facilitate a very deep state of calm and relaxation. And even if you’re not necessarily feeling it while you’re in the tank, you’ll definitely notice it when you come out.” Others have described floating as a drugfree psychedelic experience. Outside of this, there are many recorded, tangible benefits to floating, as reported in several scientific journals. Zaremba, who has a strength and conditioning background, believes that float tanks are good for muscle recovery. It even turns out that the high salt and magnesium sulfate content in the tank, which is then absorbed through the skin, correcting magnesium deficiencies, which is common in some cultures. “Everything affects everything,” says Zaremba. He believes that everything is important, that your physical health is equally important to your mental and emotional health. “I think people need to take their own health into their own responsibility. You’ve got to take care of yourself. Take full responsibility for everything in your life.”

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KPU Chamber Music Ensemble Takes Home First Prize The AJA Trio cleans up at local competitions.

Awais Mushtaq Contributor

You might not necessarily consider the world of chamber music a competitive environment, but with two major competition wins as of late, KPU’s own chamber music ensemble, the AJA Trio, have been proving themselves quite the champions. The Trio, made up of Alexander Chernata on clarinet, Julie Lin on violin and Andrea Pedro on piano, competed in the Senior category at the 61st Annual Young Musicians Competition in Kits Point last April. They placed first overall for the competition, and were also awarded Senior Ensemble First Prize at the Vancouver Kiwanis Festival that same month. The remarkable achievements of these KPU music students was the result of countless hours with their award-winning main coach Bo Peng. Peng, originally a cellist in

the Borealis String Quartet, currently instructs in the KPU music department. He claims that the idea for the group originated with a chamber music course he teaches at the university. “[Chamber music] is between two and 13 individuals playing as a group, with different instruments trying to collaborate as a whole,” he explains. “It’s the small minimized form of an orchestra with a smaller sound where you can hear the individualism. The only difference is in chamber music there’s no conductor.” There is typically very little structure for chamber music performers, as without a conductor to lead them or an entire orchestra section to carry them, each performer is tasked with learning and then mastering their part in the ensemble from the notation. This even includes, at times, the improvisation of certain pieces “That’s the magic of chamber music,” says Peng. “[The students] had to learn not

only their individual parts, but also the parts of their group members in order to come together and play the final score.” The group was formed with member Chernata and Pedro in-house last year at the Borealis String Quartet In-Residence collaboration. Lin, who was 16 at the time and the only member not officially enrolled in the Kwantlen music program, joined later through the involvement of Jen Hayes, director of piano studies. “In the music performance world, you have to go to stage. Is it challenging? Yes, but at a young age it’s an enriching experience,” says Peng. Alongside Hayes, the chair of the KPU Department of Music, Don Hlus also worked closely with Peng and the AJA Trio to prepare the students for their competitions, providing necessary support throughout the group’s process. “I’m just amazed how pure [the students] are,” notes Peng. “From working with a lot of kids at that age, in my experi-

ence there is a sense of ego, or the chance for people to use the group as a tool to showcase themselves. But [with] this group there’s no ego—everyone is just patient, playing for the music itself.” The AJA Trio participated in its fourth competition in May at the Kiwanis Fraser Valley International Music Competition, with another recital performance from the trio taking place at the White Rock Baptist Church later that month. The trio itself will hopefully be continuing well into next semester, but depending on the availability of certain members, it is unclear at this time. With the first of its kind for KPU, the AJA Trio is, according to Peng, ideally just the beginning. The future goal for the music department is to stretch their ambitions into larger areas. “We hope in a few years, with programs like chamber music, Kwantlen will have its own orchestra and become a leading post-secondary school in B.C. in this regard,” says Peng.

Surrey’s Pride and Joy

Local Pride event brings fun, awareness to Holland Park.

Dana Miller

Awais Mushtaq Contributor

Starting on June 26, Holland Park proudly showcased its colours as the venue for the 16th annual Surrey Pride Weekend and Festival. The three-day celebration of events included live entertainment, food and activities open to all members of the community. Culminating on Sunday, the final oneday event, countless groups and families came out in support of the Surrey Pride society’s message of humility. Shared by the LGBTQ communities across British Columbia is the sincere hope to raise awareness about issues affecting these communities, here and around the world. Children could be found playing in an oversized tiger-shaped bouncy castle, sporadically leaving to get their faces painted or to relax beside their parents on lawn chairs or picnic tables. Overhead, a gigantic rainbow flag provided the perfect backdrop for

the various musical performers and bands. For Shawn Ewing, the current president of the Surrey Pride Society, part of bringing the event to the Surrey community is about awareness. “There’s some education I think that needs to go on,” she says. “For some people, they don’t realize that the maps on the side of the pride tent show the various LGBT communities in the Lower Mainland. People just make an assumption that what we have here is what exists everywhere.” This year’s event also included a diverse range of sponsors and vendors offering their unique wares—from jewelry and books to eccentrically tailored clothing—while food trucks provided hot meals and cold desserts from an array of multicoloured tents. Ewing considers both herself and her wife very lucky to be a part of the Surrey community. “It’s been a long road to get here, and there’s so much more that still needs to be done. We need to have that ability to be able to celebrate, to recognize what

has been happening with our past. This is what pride celebrations are really about because for the rest of the year, sometimes it really sucks.” As Ewing argues, strides that have been taken for the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals are a great step, but recent concerns about transgender issues also need our attention. With support from other organizations across B.C., Surrey Pride hopes to continue its awareness campaign and to provide reciprocal support to other Pride festivals and events around the Lower Mainland. “I’m continually optimistic that we’re going to grow,” Ewing says. “Will we look like Vancouver Pride? New West Pride? Fraser Valley Pride? No. Will Fraser Valley, New West or Vancouver Pride look like us? No, and that’s the really cool part. There’s a uniqueness to the area that we are in and that’s what we are trying to bring forward in the Surrey Pride.”

Dana Miller

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A Whole New World for A Comedy of Errors Shakespearean Steampunk featured at this year’s Bard on the Beach.

Renée McMillen Contributor

Since its first production at Bard on the Beach in 1995, A Comedy of Errors has been a favourite of director Scott Bellis’s productions—though the Vancouver stage has never seen it done quite like this before. Inspired by storytellers Jules Verne and H.G. Welles, this iteration of the Shakespearean comedy classic sees the world of ancient Greece reimagined in the steampunk aesthetic. “Steampunk,” according to Bellis, “is an eclectic world of cogs and rivets. It is airships, goggles and steam. It is romance. It is travelling on clouds and diving beneath rugged waves. It is adventure.” Every design element in the produc-

tion, from the set-up of the stage to the props to the actors themselves, carries this unique style throughout the play. The costumes are a specific delight because, as the narrative primarily focuses on the exploits of twins, the wardrobe department had to invent some creative ways to allow the audience to distinguish between the near identical actors. With one set of twins, their socks played a pivotal role in establishing who was who—with another pair, it was a simple, though elegantly placed, shoulder cover. A Comedy of Errors is about madness, loss, identity and reconciliation. It begins with a merchant and father, Egeon, who travels to Ephesus in search of the twin sons he lost in a storm at sea many years ago. The twins, now grown men with a set of similarly dis-

placed twins serving them, have grown up in separate cities, never knowing they are one half of an identical twosome. Like their father, they find themselves in the city of Ephesus and must, through love or through madness, reconcile themselves to their true identities. While at times hard to follow, this production of A Comedy of Errors means to distinguish itself from the somewhat traditional idea of a Shakespearean play. The actors provided plenty of humor, including the servile twins, Dromio, played by women, and the housekeepers in dresses, played by men. In this way, though the setting is far from anything even Shakespeare could have imagined for his play, Bellis’ adaptation stays true to the Bard’s narrative and absurdist sense of humour. Photo & Image Design by David Cooper & Emily Cooper

An unusual musical

Godspell survives on vocals and religious components.

Samatha Thompson Executive Editor

In a season filled with musicals, the Arts Club finished off its Granville Island Stage season with yet another--Godspell, which takes messages primarily from the Gospel of Matthew and remixes them with modern music. The entire tale takes place in a train station, where suddenly all of the characters find themselves stranded after a series of cancellations. For what it is (a musical about the gospel), it does well. However, to endeavour to make the musical about something other than religion is a difficult task. The director’s message (from Sara-Jeanne

Photo by David Cooper / Arts Club

Hosie, who has dazzled the stage as Mary Poppins earlier in the season) reads, “Godspell was never intended to be a story about religion; it was meant to be a story about community.” While that may be true, you can’t help but feel that the production couldn’t exist without the religious component. If religion isn’t your thing, this likely isn’t the play for you. The production’s saving grace is the cast-

ing of Jesus as a woman, which provides a new level of diversity to those already familiar with the stories that were on loop in Sunday school. They also combine a dynamic cast, good choreography and powerful vocals to make a production that stands out. Sadly, Godspell is not a stand-out play: not as a result of the actors or the production team, but because of the story itself. The plot is virtually non-existent, and instead exists

as a series of short stories that are loosely connected by the fact that the characters are stuck at a train station for the duration of the two-and-a-half hour runtime. Go to see Godspell for the actors themselves, particularly their vocals which fill the Granville Island Stage with ease. It is in this area that the production soars, and it makes it a little bit easier to ignore the gospel truth in the rest of it.

Kurt Cobain’s Death the Subject of Second Documentary Soaked in Bleach washes away theories that Nirvana frontman committed suicide.

Preet Hundal

The death of former Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain has been a topic of intrigue for music fans ever since he reportedly took his own life on April 5, 1994. It is speculated by many that the grunge legend did not actually commit suicide, despite reports claiming this. Soaked in Bleach is a newly released

Danielle George

docudrama that explores the circumstances surrounding Cobain’s death, and ultimately attempts to convince the viewer that the speculations are indeed true; Cobain did not take his own life. Told mainly through the perspective of Tom Grant, the private investigator hired to investigate Cobain’s death, the goal of this film is to convince the viewer that the icon was murdered. When compared to Montage of Heck, another Cobain documentary that was released recently, this film spotlights the investigation of the icon’s death rather than key moments of his life. In a sense, Soaked in Bleach feels like a sequel to Montage since it strictly details the death investigation, whereas Montage instead celebrates Cobain’s life. Another distinction between the two films is that Bleach targets Courtney Love for being at least somewhat responsible for Cobain’s death. Montage, on the other hand, maintains a more neutral standpoint, often depicting Love as a caring, though herself troubled, wife to the rockstar. A major touching point in Bleach is that, according to his peers, Cobain simply wasn’t

suicidal. Because of his lyrics, which typically revolved around feelings of hopelessness, critics and investigators have traditionally thought of Cobain’s music as a reflection of the inner turmoil he was experiencing. However, Bleach makes clear that this is a false narrative, as an interview in the film shows Cobain himself saying that people put “too much meaning” into his lyrics. Another interview with one of Cobain’s peers sees the rock star described as “optimistic” and that “he’d been under a lot of pressure but [had] been handling things pretty good.” One of the key contributors to the theory that Love is, at least in part, responsible for her husband’s death, is Tom Grant—who was hired by Love to track down Cobain after he went missing days before his death. A recorded interview between Grant and Love before Cobain’s death shows Love coming across as controlling and angry regarding her husband’s whereabouts and lifestyle. Love is also shown to be heavily paranoid, believing that Cobain had been cheating on her. In addition, it is mentioned that the couple would likely divorce soon. Grant reveals that Love did not assist

in the search for Cobain because “she had business in L.A.,” which was proven to be false and added suspicion regarding Love’s involvement in the events to come. If Cobain hadn’t died, and the couple did get divorced, it would prove to be detrimental to Love. According to Rosemary Carroll, godmother to Love and Cobain’s daughter: “If the divorce had gone through, Courtney would have received a very small settlement as a result of the prenuptial agreement.” However, if Cobain were to die, his wife would co-inherit an estate “worth possibly more than a billion dollars of future royalties,” which is what this film argues to be her motivating factor in having her husband murdered. Overall, Soaked in Bleach, unlike Montage of Heck, succeeds in outlining the investigation and myths surrounding the death of one of the most beloved icons in music. The fact that there is such an abundance of speculation regarding this case only proves how influential Cobain was to the masses. It’s a shame, however, that the icon’s death has been, and could be forever, surrounded in mystery.

Opinions

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Political Overcorrection

University students need to be confronted with what makes them uncomfortable.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

Universities and their students have always been known for being more leftleaning and social justice inclined. They marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the ‘60s, and protested the Vietnam war in the ‘70s. Today’s generation is the most well-educated and most connected of any in history. A video of an unarmed black man getting assaulted in New York can reach my cellphone within seconds of it being recorded. Anyone can go on the internet and hear stories from each other. I can learn

from Kenyans about their lives without the filter of an American journalist editing their interview. While there is much to be celebrated here, it’s possible we go overboard. Don Lemon, an anchor on CNN with his own show—who’s also black and gay— happened to be in agreement with Seinfeld and other comedians in regards to political correctness. Shortly after Obama said “n*****” in an interview, American news was all over it. Lemon got involved by asking a guest what was so offensive about saying the word, much to her dismay. Our priorities are completely twisted when someone saying “nappy hair” incites more anger than the CIA’s use of torture overseas. George Rammell, a sculpture artist who had his work seized and destroyed by Capilano University last year has an understanding of the way political correctness can be wielded. He had his work,

Margaux and the Monarch, seized for being called “misogynistic” by the university president. Interestingly, women’s studies professors at Capilano found that his work wasn’t sexist at all. Here, “hurt feelings” was used as justification to remove artwork. “In the university context, what we have to do as professors is challenge preconceived biases and notions that students might have. And sometimes students can find that offensive if we challenge beliefs. Just because they’re offended doesn’t mean we’re harassing them,” says David Robinson, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers. “I think what makes bad ideas go away is when we shine a light on them and interrogate them.” Three years ago, a school in New York attempted to remove words like “dinosaur” from their curriculum, apparently because it might “trigger” someone who doesn’t believe in evolution, as well as words like

Respectfully Correct

“divorce” should it do the same to a child whose parents are no longer married. An actual, functioning city department almost implemented it. An individual is in control of their own emotions, and teaching people that they’re not leads to weak-minded behaviour. Sometimes new ideas can make people feel uncomfortable. Images from Nazi prison camps are uncomfortable to look at, but it’s extremely hard to grasp how bad that period of history was unless you see these images. When a right-wing person wants to stifle discussion out of fear of hearing a dissenting opinion, it’s called censorship. When a left-wing person does the same, it’s called political correctness.

Pifanid

Don’t be someone’s racist grandpa.

Amanda Paananen Photo Editor

So Jerry Seinfeld doesn’t want to perform on college campuses because they’re too politically correct. I have no doubt this is true. In my experience, most people I have met in academia are politically correct, if that means respectful of others regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. Nor am I surprised that it is Seinfeld who’s voiced the complaint. This isn’t his first noble stand against the evil buzzkill that is political correctness. He has publicly defended his show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which was widely criticized for featuring mostly

white men. Not to mention, in the nine seasons that his sitcom aired, Seinfeld only featured 19 black people (18 of which were one-off, background characters). I’m afraid that what Seinfeld is experiencing is not the dying days of disco for comedy (rife with angry harpy-type women and minorities), but instead, the inevitable passage of time. Most North American children today are raised in a much more multicultural world than their grandparents. They are taught a certain cultural sensitivity from an early age. Of course this change in paradigm will affect the way young people perceive what’s funny and what isn’t. After all, what is

Seinfeld actually lamenting? The loss of the ability to make racist and sexist jokes? Why so threatened? It’s not that I don’t understand finger-inthe-wound humour, but comedy is changing. Comedians like Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, and Aziz Ansari have demonstrated various ways of poking fun at a sensitive subject while maintaining a serious underlying social commentary. Just as in the 1960s and 1970s, young people were attracted to political comedians like Richard Pryor and George Carlin. Politically correct comedy doesn’t necessarily mean “clean” comedy, it means less crapping on the people who already get crapped on all the time.

Newspapers no longer display Andy Capp beating his wife in the comic sections, thanks mostly to awareness of domestic violence. This is the way progress works. Ultimately, it is Seinfeld’s choice whether or not to play on college campuses, but don’t play wounded puppy when your outdated jokes aren’t well received. The whole thing reminds me of a stand-up bit by Bill Burr about older generations and racism: “You ever talk to a grandparent and ask the wrong question and all of a sudden you go down this crazy road? Whoa. Whoa! Let’s get back to the cookies grandma.” Mr. Seinfeld, don’t be someone’s racist grandpa.

Opinions

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Going Global

Greece rejects austerity in referendum amidst financial crisis.

After seven years of being in an economic mess, the Greeks have voted in referendum to reject a bailout offer from the European Union. With a turnout of 63 per cent, 61.3 per cent of voting Greeks said “no”, while 38.7 per cent voted “yes.” Had the Greeks voted “yes,” they would have been agreeing to more of the same— austerity, which would have meant aggressive spending cuts to government services along with tax increases. This would significantly hurt a nation with an unemployment rate of 25 per cent and a youth unemployment rate at 55 per cent. Keep in mind that almost 40 per cent of the country said “yes” in the referendum. Since ancient history, the Greeks have always had a problem with their heavily divided nation. The country is extremely mountainous, and has issues collecting taxes from its own citizens. Even though all Greeks are united culturally and linguistically, they have sizable differences in regards to wealth and culture. Saying “no” to austerity is not necessarily a “no” to the European Union. A poll in late April suggested at 75 per cent of Greeks wanted to stay inside the EU. “Yes” voters will be very upset, as the rejection of the EU package will jeopardize Greece’s membership within the EU. To a certain extent, austerity had been helping the Greeks reduce their deficit from 25-billion Euro in 2009 to just 5-billion in 2011. However, this also meant a shrinking

The entire crisis has been used to question the existence of the European Union. The year 2008 demonstrated that when you don’t control your own currency, you’re deeply vulnerable to the actions of other countries. The EU was originally formed to promote peace and economic strength; sadly, the economic crisis resulted in European nations trying to save themselves instead of helping each other. As for the rest of the world, this isn’t good news. In our globalized world, everyone is interconnected in a variety of ways. When you cellphone comes from Korea, your mangoes from Guatemala, your television from the USA, and your sweater from China, everyone feels what the other does. If Europe suffers, so do we. Uncertainty might cause investors, big and small, to withdraw from European companies, which could also affect the price of the currency. Some on social media have tried to compare the situation in Greece to the same one that happened in Iceland. While yes, Iceland’s banks failed in 2008 and they jailed a few of their top I OX bankers, the reason they can recover is primarily due to their trustworthy government. Iceland has almost no government corruption, unlike Greece, which has it in spades. Besides this, Icelanders tendtopay their taxes. ida

Coordinating Editor

economy and a populace that is suffering from massive poverty. In the 1990s, Greece qualified for EU membership. In this powerful union, Greece would be granted access to better economies like the UK, France and Germany, as well as low-interest loans. The problem is that the country began to increase social services and keep a low retirement age, despite the lack of funding that would have allowed it. The French and Germans combined have contributed $115-billion to various Greek bailout funds, and while they don’t want to give them any more money, they also don’t want to see Greece fail. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has said that they should have never let Greece into the Euro, especially since it was discovered that they had been falsifying their economic data for years, destroying the trust that investors had previously held in the economy. All of the recent governments, prior to SYRIZA, have underreported deficit levels by a large margin. This vote is a victory for Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister, who called NA the EU’s bluff. The EU wants I to keep Greece in the Eurozone, but they don’t want to jeopardize the entire economic union’s financial health to do so. If the Greeks leave the Eurozone, they could encourage other countries to leave, such as Spain, Ireland and Portugal, who are themselves suffering through economic difficulties. However, these countries are unlikely to leave, as they have been slowly recovering.

Pifan

Tristan Johnston

Tax evasion is the national sport of the Greeks. It’s a problem so massive that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concluded that around $40-billion goes uncollected each year, about $36-billion would have come from doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. These professions are very well represented in Greek parliament. If Greece wants a hope of restoring faith to international investors, it has a long road ahead, and a gap to fill in regards to tax collection. The outcome of this situation is difficult to predict. International trade on a worldwide scale is unique to this century. However, many geopolitical analysts have agreed that in order for the European Union to survive, states must give up more of their sovereignty. If they cling to it, the union will fail. However, it’s just as likely that all of Europe’s problems could stop at Greece, it’s just as well that their exit could bring new confidence to Europe. If we ignore Greece, Europe’s economy has been recovering slowly, but nicely. Ultimately, Tsipras is a moderate within his own party, and the referendum has given him license to proceed as he likes in the following negotiations. Tsipras has said before that he’d rather have a good deal with the EU and stay—a bad deal, or none at all, could result in a “Grexit from the European Union.” The Greek crisis is one that develops day by day and has much more context than a 1000-word article allows for. On Sunday, July 12th, Germany crafted a five-year temporary Eurozone exit plan for Greece after failing to reach a deal. The future remains uncertain for Greece.

Bill C-24 degrades what it means to be Canadian New law creates two separate classes of Canadian citizen.

Joseph Keller Contributor

We here at The Runner have given lots of attention to some of the dangerous legislation that has been pushed through the House of Commons lately, namely the much derided C-51. It seems however that we’ve neglected an equally egregious piece of legislation that as of June 11, 2015 is now law in this country. In the name of ‘Protecting Canadianstm,’ the Conservative government has passed bill C-24, a law that essentially states that some Canadians are more Canadian (and thus have greater rights) than others. C-24 was written in the wake of a small but highly publicized wave of Canadian nationals going overseas to fight for ISIS. The press release on the government’s web page reads “Canadian citizenship can

now also be revoked from dual citizens for taking up arms against Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces, whether as a member of a foreign army or in non-state terrorist groups like ISIS.” The law will not affect those of us who do not have claim to dual citizenship but anyone who is so much as eligible for citizenship in another country can now be stripped of Canadian citizenship. So now we have a system where I can’t have my status as a Canadian taken away from me no matter what I do. But my friends and neighbours, who immigrated to this country and earned their citizenship as well as their children who were born on Canadian soil, can. The government has relegated anyone with ties to another country to second class citizenship. It’s true that citizenship can not be revoked “arbitrarily” as there does in fact need to be evidence that a Canadian has

committed treason or terrorism in order for citizenship can be revoked. The problem, however, lies in how such a decision is to be made under C-24. The aforementioned press release states, “Also officially in force as of today is a new, more streamlined citizenship revocation process.” How exactly has the process been “streamlined?” The decision will be made not by a federal judge but by the Minister of Immigration or a delegate. This system will make the process of revoking citizenship cheaper and faster and far, far more open to abuse and error.

When a person becomes a Canadian citizen it’s supposed to mean that that person, for better or for worse, is one of us. If a Canadian betrays their country by committing treason or terrorism then that person needs to stand trial as a Canadian, subject to our laws and our rights. The government has no right to wash its hands of one of its people. By making citizenship something that can be taken away our government has made the very concept of being Canadian mean less. While C-24 hasn’t had quite the same amount of attention put on it as some of the other insults and abuses thrown at Canadians by this government there has still been a significant outcry. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association have publicly condemned the legislation and a court challenge is already underway. As for the rest of us, the best thing we can do is get out and vote, when the time comes, for a government that respects Canadian citizenship. It’s time to hold this government accountable and restore what it means to be a Canadian citizen.

Scott McLelland

Opinions

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Orange Crush: will the Conservatives keep their majority? Provinces favour different parties.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

On July 6, ThreeHunderedEight.com, ran by historian and writer Éric Grenier, projected a popular vote of 32.1 per cent for the NDP, 28.4 per cent for the Conservatives, and 27.3 per cent for the Liberals. These numbers take weighted averages of several opinion polls conducted across Canada, all of which ask: “which party would you vote for if the federal election was today?” Even though the NDP is slightly ahead, the first-past-the-post system we have in Canada could prevent their victory. This could mean that the Conservatives stay in power, but lose their majority. This electoral system works for whoever gets a majority in Canada, and it’s the reason why the NDP in Alberta was able to gain a majority with a popular vote of 40 per cent. While typically thought of as a blue province, Alberta’s political landscape has been slowly shifting, especially with oil money bringing many new jobs. Many Albertans were not born in the province. But despite Alberta’s new provincial party being the NDP, polling averages from June make it extremely clear that they would vote blue, come October. Grenier calculated June polling averages in Alberta as being 47 per cent in favour of federal Conservatives and only 30 per cent in favour of federal NDP. At 39 per cent, Manitoba and Saskatchewan still strongly back the Conservatives, 11 points more than the NDP

at 28 per cent. The other provinces are less clear. Ever since Trudeau became Liberal party leader, B.C. has shown to favour the Liberals or Conservatives, depending on what month it was. This changed starting in April, and the NDP wound up becoming B.C.’s favoured political party in June at 38 per cent, 27 per cent favouring the Conservatives. While Ontario generally preferred the Liberal party the moment Trudeau became leader, June polling puts all three major parties within a few percentage points of each other. Too close to call. Atlantic Canada strongly prefers the Liberals, with 41 per cent in June saying they’d vote liberal and only 28 preferring the NDP. Quebec, an NDP stronghold since the 2011 election, began to favour the Liberal party once Trudeau became leader, but last month 35 per cent wanted to see NDP in parliament, with the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois at 22 per cent each. Though the NDP is ahead in some of the provinces, they haven’t secured all of them. Due to our electoral system, it can be understood why some political pundits and even former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney think that the Conservatives might still keep a government, whether it be minority or majority. Regardless, life has never been this good for the NDP. In the 2011 federal election, the NDP gained opposition status, after an entire existence regulated to third place or lower. This is thanks to the dropping popularity of the Bloc Quebecois, who lost

Federal Seat Projection

all but four of the 48 seats they held. Most of these lost seats were taken by the NDP. The NDP can also thank the performance of Thomas Mulcair, who has been delivering high-ball questions to the Conservatives during question periods in parliament. We also shouldn’t ignore the Liberals, who have failed to find a solid leader since the loss of Paul Martin in 2006. Justin Trudeau has performed better than most, but they have faced a hard time, having lost much of their base over their support of Bill C-51. Even though Trudeau has specified that his party doesn’t like much of the bill, they voted for it regardless, and in politics, perception is more important than reality. We’re still several months out from the election. Political pundits have been speculating that high poll numbers from Ipsos-Reid and others will draw more scrutiny to the NDP. Mulcair will be asked tougher questions now that he’s within range of securing a government. I would also speculate that they’re most likely to secure a youth vote. Younger people are much more leftleaning, and aware of Bill C-51. They have also made a minimum wage hike a priority, as well as ending the war on drugs and increasing funding for public transportation. The question remains as to whether or not young people will even vote. He will be asked about proposed tax rates, which the NDP are sure

to raise. They have made an interesting proposal of raising corporate taxes on big business, but lowering it on small ones. The Runner used http://www. threehundredeight.com/ as a source for polling.

Bloc Québécois / Green / others

Kenny Chui

KPU Signs Partnership with Elongated Tubes of Death KPU official: “We as a university do not have a stance on cigarettes.”

Lauren Ipsum Satirist

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) has entered into an agreement with Marlboro Cigarettes to receive some arbitrary and low amount of money over an amount of time that makes that money even more meaningless for student scholarships. Students studying in the Faculty of Health will receive up to $1,000 a year to promote research that will extend the lives of smokers. Some of the funding will

also be used to build a clinic that specifically treats people with chronic illness and cancer due to smoking. Marlboro may have naming rights for this facility. “Students will benefit from the funding and Marlboro will benefit from having their customers live

business in this world.” Bill Zaibub, Manager of Brand Building, was thrilled at the prospects of the partnership. “We’re basically getting everything we want for pennies! The best part for us is knowing that by contributing

a hopeful note, claiming that, “Students have the opportunity to be part of a great legacy with this funding.” While some students will be participating in research to prevent people from becoming addicted to

Danielle George

longer and smoke more,” says Dr. Salvador Ferreras, adding, “Of course the company will make Scrooge McDuck levels of money compared to the relatively paltry sum they’re offering the students, but that’s just the cost of doing

to these students’ education, we’re really just investing in more profits for ourselves.” The interview could not proceed from that point because Mr. Zaibub would not stop laughing and smelling his money. Ferreras ended the press conference on

cigarettes, Ferreras highlights the fact that thanks to these scholarships, many more will have the opportunity to contribute to an industry that peddles carcinogenic toxins and causes irreversible damage on a global scale. “And,” says Ferreras, “we have no ethical qualms about that.”

Opinions

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Boring by the Sea Vancouver is livable, but it needs to get a life.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

Nice Cities Finish Last Vancouver labeled boring for being “too nice” a place to live.

Renée McMillen Contributor

In a recent Economist article, Vancouver

Having grown up away from the west

was at once listed as one of the most livable cities in the world, and cited as an extremely boring place to live or visit. Top ranking cities on these kinds of “livability” lists almost always mention Vancouver, along with Geneva, Zurich, Munich and a few others. Having visited some of these cities, I will concede that Vancouver is much more fun than Geneva. However, when comparing Vancouver to Berlin, Paris or Amsterdam—yes, Vancouver is indeed boring. Once, while living in Vienna on exchange, I was walking home from a party at three in the morning. When I was a mere five minutes from my place, a guy who appeared to be my age approached me, asking, “Hast du feuer?” which meant, “Do you have a lighter?” I told him that I didn’t, and after he picked up on my weak German he asked me where I was from. This quickly evolved into conversation and before I knew it, he was telling me all about another party happening near his place. “It has a bunch of Luxembourgish people. I dunno. I wasn’t going to go but maybe you will like it. Luxembourgish people are weird.” He laughed. The man brought me to a large apartment building full of drunk Luxembourgish people and loud music. The people there were all so far gone they didn’t know which of their three official languages to use when talking to each other. It was like walking through the ruins of the Tower of Babel. I have never been approached by someone and invited to a party at 3 a.m. in Vancouver. Talking to strangers in Vancouver is considered “weird,” and I’m not sure what to attribute this to, but making friends in Vancouver is rather difficult. Do you even know who your neighbours are? But Vancouver’s boredom doesn’t merely lie in our social failings, it’s also in our bizarre alcohol laws, especially compared to Germanic Europe. In Berlin and Vienna, at least, you can drink in public places—on the train, in the park, wherever and whenever you please. Businessmen on the train at 7 p.m. with a beer in one hand, a zeitung in the other, is a common sight. To be clear, in Berlin it’s technically illegal to drink in public, but you see it done all the time and the law only exists so that police can detain dangerous drunks. Here, you’re asked to pour out your beer if you haven’t wrapped your bottle in a brown or plastic bag. Where’s the logic in that one? Even responsible drinking is surprisingly difficult in Vancouver compared to other cities. When I was living in Vienna, the subways ran 24 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, and night bus service was heavily expanded. This allows you to drunkenly stumble home without paying too much. Then there’s the nightclubs. Berlin has Berghain, a former power substation that some guys walked into, gutted, and started setting up lights, speakers and a bar. Now it’s a nightclub that plays continuously from midnight on Saturday to Monday morning.

coast, I have to admit some level of bias when arguing whether or not Vancouver is a boring city. I chose to come and make my life here—proudly. A recent article in The Economist, however, states that Vancouver is “livable . . . but mind-numbingly boring,” and goes on to argue that no one in their right mind would consider Vancouver preferable or a “better” city than Rio or Paris, for example. While the criteria for a “better city” is not exactly clear, a matrix for determining the livability of a city based on crime levels, transportation efficiency and housing stock doesn’t seem to be a well-rounded system. It also fails to examine our city from the eyes of a local versus those of a tourist—two phenomenally different perceptions. After seven years of travelling between one of the biggest cities in Canada, Toronto, and back to Vancouver, the differences in personality and even ideology between the two cities make themselves readily apparent. This is not to say, however, that one is less than the other—it is simply a matter of taste and expectations. Vancouver is blessed with a forgiving climate and a beautiful backdrop, and is certainly not without an impressive list of things to do the yearround. Toronto, though, is an international destination and a far more diverse cultural hub. The Economist claims that, “Cities strive to become nicer places in which to live. Yet the more they succeed the less interesting they become.” We made our city a great place to live so that we would have a great place to live. Once we go to those cities deemed unsafe, yet exciting, homesickness sets in quickly. This is for good reason. The safety and security we seek on a regular basis is what we want and need for the place we call home. Save the danger-seeking for the weekend or for vacation. Branch out from the touristheavy areas and really explore what Vancouver has to offer before deeming it “boring.” Vancouver has to offer what any major urban location offers—its own unique flair. It is known for being one of the only cities in the world where you can go sailing, skiing and swimming all in one day. It is a city that’s always growing, always changing and, in 2014, it drew almost nine-million visitors. That’s a record year, according to The Province. With that kind of drawing power, I think it’s safe to assume that The Economist author who opined Vancouver is a boring city is amongst a small demographic who don’t understand what this city really has to offer.

Rosaura Ojeda

Meanwhile, Vancouver clubs barely make it to sunrise. Vancouver has time and again been described as a “No fun” city by opinion writers over the years, many of whom cite the closure of our our cultural centres, such as the Waldorf, as reasons why it feels like young people aren’t really welcomed here. We certainly don’t have the income needed to survive in the city. By comparison, Berlin is one of the most fun cities in the world, and also one of the cheapest. In 2013 I paid only $285 Canadian for my private dormitory in East Berlin. A nearby train kept me wellconnected to all the fun stuff I wanted to do. Good luck getting a place for that price in Vancouver-proper. Now, some reading this article might ask “What about our nature? Our beaches? Our ski hills?” Vancouver is not the only city

with these qualities. Stockholm, Oslo, Vienna, Zurich and Geneva are a train ride away from lakes, beaches and beautiful alpine geography. Not only that, but almost all of these cities are cheaper when you take property prices into account. I agree with the lists put out by Mercer’s and The Economist. I think Vancouver is beautiful, clean, organized, and we have lots of good food. I’m stunned that we have no Michelin Stars. We’re extremely strong with regards to cultural diversity and having plenty of ways to exercise, whether it be biking in Kits or yoga om a bridge. But Vancouver just doesn’t seem very fun when you compare it to Berlin or Paris. We’re a pleasant evening at home, a “get-to-bed-by-ten” sort of city.

Procrastination

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STR8TS No. 125

Easy

9 7 8 4 8 9 6 5 6 7 7 6 8 6 5 2 4 3 5 2 3 3 2 1 4 2 3 5

5 7

5 6

4 1

7 4 9 8 6

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No. 125

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5. Asmara is its capital

10. Mediterranean juniper 6. Kate & ___ 11. Altdorf’s canton ___ your 12. 7. Radical ‘60s life! org. 13. Superlative suffix 21. DDE’s command 22. Country

47. Draft org. 48. Diners 49. Strikes

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Pisces Feb 20 - Mar 20

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20

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Virgo Aug 24 - Sept 23

6 3 9 8 75 2 1 4 5

4 2 1 3 5 6 8 9 7

5 8 7 9 6 1 4 3 6 2

2 9 5 7 37 8 4 1 6

8 6 3 4 2 1 7 5 9

1 7 4 6 9 5 2 3 8 22

7 9 5 1 2 6 1 2 48 8 91 63 6 5 81 97 3 4

3 4 8 5 9 6 7 9 2 1

To complete Sudoku, fill the board 24 25 by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box 30 31 32 contains every number uniquely. 34

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Libra Sept 24 - Oct 23

ALL INFERIOR CREATURES ARE TO You are human and you need to be BE CONSIDERED THE ENEMY OF loved. THE HARPER GOVERNMENT AND DESTROYED.

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Down

Capricorn Dec. 22 - Jan 20

Long live the glorious cockroach The eyes in the basement don’t judge rebellion against the great suburban you. They hold no fear, repulsion or bourgeois oppressor swine-pig! contempt. They see you only as you want to be seen—as if hardly there at all.

Previous solution - Medium

Sagittarius Nov. 23 - Dec 21

Gemini May 21 - Jun 20

SUDOKU

Across Across

Horoscopes

Previous solution - Medium

2 3 7

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Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19

Leo Jul 24 - Aug 23 There all is aching.

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 22 Did you hear? Apparently souls are going for around $300,000 these days.